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Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui

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SAR-I-PUL (PAN): A Chinese firm on Sunday launched exploration work on an oil and gas field at the Amu River’s basin in northern Sar-i-Pul province in presence of high-ranking Afghan officials.Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation... read more

KABUL (PAN): Prices of sugar and liquefied gas went down during the outgoing week in Kabul, where rates of other essential daily-use commodities stayed stable, retailers said on Thursday.Taimani-based gas dealer Abdullah told Pajhwok Afghan News one... read more

KABUL (PAN): Leaders of Afghanistan and Ukraine agreed on greater economic cooperation between the two countries and repairs of Soviet-era military equipment, the Presidential Palace in Kabul said on Tuesday.President Hamid Karzai and his Ukrainian... read more

KABUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai on Sunday announced the third phase of security transition from foreigners to Afghan forces, a process that a senior official says will be challenging.Security responsibility for Kapisa, Uruzgan and Parwan... read more

KABUL (PAN): Russia and Afghanistan are set to discuss seven mega projects that the former Soviet Union executed in the war-torn decades ago, an official said on Wednesday.The projects would figure at the maiden meeting of the Afghanistan-Russia... read more

KABUL (PAN): The Pakistani government has allowed 164 of the 700 Afghan traders’ vehicles to enter the landlocked country, a businessman said on Saturday.“We are trying to get released the rest of Afghanistan-bound vehicles stranded in Pakistan,”... read more

KABUL (PAN): Afghan traders suffered a loss of $500 million (afghanis 24,620 million) over the past 18 months because of the Pakistan government's undue restrictions, an official of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) claimed on... read more

KABUL (PAN): Afghanistan and China on Wednesday signed their first-ever oil and gas deal that would earn the landlocked country $7 billion over the next two decades and a half, officials said.Under the major oil exploration agreement, the state-... read more

KABUL (PAN): The issue of strict checking of Afghanistan-bound trade goods carrying vehicles by Iranian authorities has temporarily been resolved, an official said on Monday.The relaxation resulted in calling off protests by Afghan drivers at a dry... read more

KABUL (PAN): Investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) planned to construct a dry port in eastern Nangarhar province to facilitate Afghan traders, an official said on Sunday.The port is being constructed over a vast area of 150 acres in... read more

KABUL (PAN): Authorities in Pakistan have stopped 500 Afghanistan-bound vehicles loaded with transit trade goods on the suspicion of being supplied for NATO forces, an official said on Saturday.On November 27, Islamabad closed a key supply line for... read more

ISLAMABAD/KABUL (PAN): Pakistan on Tuesday decided not to attend next week's conference on Afghanistan's future in Bonn in protest against an ISAF airstrike on a border post that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.The decision was taken at a Cabinet... read more

KABUL (PAN): The death toll among Afghan pilgrims has risen to 19, with another 13 sustaining injuries during the performance of this year's pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, an official said on Tuesday.All the causalities were a result of traffic... read more

KABUL (PAN): Thirteen Afghan hajj pilgrims have died and a dozen others wounded during the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, an official of the Hajj and Islamic Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.The deaths and injuries were a result of illness and... read more

KABUL (PAN): The Istanbul Regional Conference, co-hosted by Turkey and Afghanistan, concluded with a vow to join hands for bringing peace, security, development and prosperity to the war-hit country.Attended by more than 29 foreign ministers, senior... read more

ISTANBUL (PAN): The United Kingdom on Wednesday supported the peace process initiated by Turkey, saying stability in the region, especially in Afghanistan, was important.Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for South Asia Alistair Burt, also a... read more

ISTANBUL (PAN): Taliban and other militant leaders could join the peace process if they gave up violence, severed ties with Al Qaeda and returned to a peaceful life under the Afghan Constitution, President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday."However, as... read more

ISTANBUL (PAN): A number of Turkish companies have expressed their willingness to invest in Afghanistan's mining sector, an Afghan Cabinet minister said on Wednesday. Turkish companies, engaged in mine extraction in Libya, Iraq, Azerbaijan and... read more

ISTANBUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai is set to take up with his Pakistani counterparts the ongoing reconciliation effort in Afghanistan, cross-border rocket strikes and the assassination of High Peace Council chief, Burhanuddin Rabbani, an... read more

KABUL (PAN): More than 2,000 government officials and elders are scheduled to meet in mid-November in Kabul to discuss the pros and cons of an Afghan-US strategic cooperation pact.The traditional Loya Jirga, convening at the Polytechnic University,... read more

KABUL (PAN): Six international firms have submitted bids for a feasibility study of a railroad connecting Afghanistan with Turkmenistan, an official said on Thursday.Bids for the 220-kilometre railway line were opened a month back by the Ministries... read more

KABUL (PAN): An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed in northern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Friday.The soldier died of non-battle-related injury on Thursday, the NATO-led press office in Kabul said in a brief... read more

KABUL (PAN): The government's income increased during the first six month of the current Afghan year that began on March 21, as compared to the corresponding period last year, an official said on Sunday.In the first six months, official revenue... read more

KABAUL (PAN): Top foreign diplomats will attend ex-president Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani's funeral on Friday, an official said on Thursday. The High Peace Council chairman was assassinated on Tuesday in a suicide attack in the high-... read more

KABUL (PAN): Work on asphalting 3.6 kilometres of streets was launched in the Parwan-i-Do neighbourhood of Kabul on Tuesday, officials said.The project would cost $1.4 million to be provided by the municipality, Mayor Eng. Muhammad Younus Nawandesh... read more

KABUL (PAN): A three-day exhibition of women's handicrafts was inaugurated in Kabul on Sunday, officials said.
The exhibition has been organised to resolve problems of women traders, said the Afghan Women Traders' Council head, Mehboba Waazi.... read more

KABUL (PAN): Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have promised $ 25 million (1,183,500,000 afghanis) for upgrading the National Aviation Institute to an academy, officials said on Sunday. The promise was held out at meetings between German... read more

KABUL (PAN): Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak on Friday called for solid national unity to resolve the problems being faced by Afghanistan.Unity was more effective than weapons and security forces in addressing Afghanistan's problems, the... read more

KABUL (PAN): Foreign ministry in a letter had informed the energy and power ministry about Iran's concern over the construction of a dam on Helmand River, official sources said on Wednesday.Officials of both the ministries rejecting Iran's concerns... read more

KABUL (PAN): The United States on Wednesday pledged id="mce_marker".3 billion in assistance to strengthen Afghanistan's electricity system and improve the capacity of some universities, a cabinet minister said.A contract to the effect was signed... read more

KABUL (PAN): Gold and sugar prices went up while rates of daily-use commodities stayed unchanged during the outgoing week in Kabul, retailers said on Thursday.
One gram of Arabian gold sold for 2,400 afghanis ($50.77) against last week's rate... read more

KABUL (PAN): Nearly 1,390 kilograms of narcotics were set on fire by counternarcotics police in the western province of Farah, the Ministry of Interior said on Wednesday.
The drugs included 729 kg of opium, 95 kg of heroin, 500 kg of poppy seeds,... read more

KABUL (PAN): Afghanistan's exports to different countries during the first three months of the new solar year amounted to $135.37 million (6.3 billion afghanis), an official said on Monday.
Data from the Central Statistics Office of Afghanistan... read more

KABUL(PAN): The government has launched efforts to legalise Afghan refugees' stay in neighbouring Iran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.
A high-level delegation is expected to travel to Iran in the near future to discuss the... read more

KABUL (PAN): Prices of oil, rice, flour and ghee increased during the outgoing week in Kabul, as compared to last week, market sources said on Thursday.
Both petrol and diesel accounted for 58 afghanis per litre, one afghani higher that the rate... read more

KABUL (PAN): About $60 million (2.8 billion afghanis) was donated to the Afghan Government for the improvement of Afghanistan's financial sector, officials said on Tuesday.
Abdul Raouf Zia, a spokesman of the World Bank in Kabul, told... read more

KABUL (PAN): Gold prices went up while flour and ghee rates decreased during the outgoing week in Kabul, retailers said on Thursday.
One gram of Arabian gold sold for 2,200 afghanis ($46.81) against last week's rate of 2,100afs. The same amount... read more

KABUL (PAN): Fuel dealers on Tuesday rejected the petrol and diesel rates announced by the ministry of commerce as unfair, calling for a review of the decision.
Last week, Commerce Minister Anwarul Haq Ahadi announced diesel and petrol would cost... read more

KABUL (PAN): The United States, not interested in having permanent military bases in Afghanistan, wants to stabilise the country, the incoming American ambassador said on Monday.
However, American troops would remain in the country as long as... read more

KABUL(PAN): Italy will provide a grant of €14 million to the Afghan Government's National Rural Access Programme for the construction of roads in the countryside.
Minister of Finance Hazrat Omer Zakhilwal and Italian Ambassador to... read more

KABUL(PAN): The Ministry of Finance signed on Sunday an agreement with the World Bank (WB) for a $50 million grant from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF).
This is the initial tranche of a $73 million grant approved for the Ministry... read more

KABUL(PAN): The Afghanistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) on Wednesday warned of protests if it was not involved in the Hajj flight operation.
The Council of Ministers has decided all Hajj pilgrims will be airlifted to Makkah by the... read more

KABUL(PAN): The Afghanistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) will hold elections for provincial chapters' heads next month under the supervision of the Independent Election Commission (IEC).
In this regard ACCI chief Qurban Ali... read more

KABUL (PAN): Last year the government’s telephone bill was over $10 million (roughly 519 million afghanis).
The Ministries of Defense, Interior, and Culture and Information generated 42 percent of those costs, an official said Monday.
Haji... read more

KABUL(PAN): The government announced on Monday new petrol and diesel prices, saying a litre would cost 57 afghanis at all fuel stations and depots in Kabul. The new rates will be effective from Tuesday.
The government had reached an agreement... read more

KABUL(PAN): President Hamid Karzai's close aide Jan Mohammad Khan and parliamentarian Mohammad Hashim Watanwal were laid to rest on Monday afternoon in Uruzgan and Kabul respectively.
Khan, a former governor of central Uruzgan province, was... read more

KABUL (PAN): Three foreign troops have been killed in separate militant attacks in Afghanistan, where violence has escalated in recent months, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Friday.Two foreign soldiers died in roadside... read more

KABUL (PAN): Afghanistan and Italy have signed two agreements on increased political interaction and multilateral cooperation, the Presidential Palace in Kabul said on Friday.
Inked by foreign ministers of the two countries, the pacts underline... read more

KABUL (PAN): Members of nine parliamentary commissions on Sunday approved the budget for the new financial year that commenced on March 21. The lower house, which twice rejected the draft, is expected to approve it on Monday.
Passed by the Senate,... read more

KABUL (PAN): A portion of the Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's largest private-sector bank, has been affiliated to the Ministry of Finance, a senior official announced on Wednesday.
A safe part of the nation's biggest lender was taken over by the... read more

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): Schools in Kandahar which had been closed due to the security situation will reopen again this academic year, the education department has said.
Already, 63 schools had reopened, with the remaining 138 to reopen in the next... read more

KABUL (PAN): Mobile phone users in the Afghan capital have started receiving text messages warning them that if they do not send on the names of Allah to several other people, they will endure a lifetime of misfortune.
While most people in Kabul do... read more

KABUL (PAN): Gas and firewood prices declined as cooking oil rates went up in Kabul during the outgoing week, retailers said on Thursday, linking the drop in energy rates to a change in the weather.
"When the cold weather departs, prices of... read more

KABUL (PAN): Afghanistan’s state-run Millie Bus company has suspended 165 buses on routes throughout Kabul, causing residents in the capital to complain about a lack of public transport.
The company said it stopped the buses... read more

KABUL (PAN): The Afghan government's ban on private security companies has led to a delay in executing a number of development projects in the country, the US ambassador has said.
In compliance with a decree from President Hamid Karzai six... read more

KABUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai condemned on Tuesday a suicide bombing that killed at least 35 people at Russia's busiest airport.
More than 100 people were injured in the explosion inside the entry hall of the Domodedovo airport in... read more

KABUL(PAN): A US citizen from Jordan has been detained in the central province of Maidan Wardak, officials said on Monday.
The man was arrested on Sunday night in Syedabad district as he rode his motorbike from Kandahar province to Kabul, an... read more

KABUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai's main rival in last year's presidential election has urged Afghans to turn out in large numbers on Saturday, and thus avoid possible fraud in the parliamentary poll.Dr. Abdullah Abdullah who quit the second round... read more

KABUL (PAN): The European Commission will donate 600 million euros to Afghanistan following this week's Kabul conference, a European Union envoy said on Saturday.The pledge will be released over three years with half of it to be part of the... read more

KABUL (PAN): Japan, a major donor to Afghanistan, has backed the outcome of a peace jirga in which delegates agreed to open talks with the Taliban, a statement said on Thursday.Japan considers the traditional assembly a "positive step towards peace... read more

KABUL (PAN): Germany, assuring continued assistance to Afghanistan, has announced its support to the conclusions of the three-day Peace Advisory Jirga held in Kabul last week.The German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, voiced his country's... read more